Since June, the city has also been staffed in such a way that the area of responsibility can be handled entirely in Salzgitter.

In order to introduce the new procedure and the responsible employees, the district and the city invited people to an information event entitled "Combating illegal employment in the district of Wolfenbüttel" in the main conference room of the district administration building. Representatives from the district craftsmen's association, the Salzgitter/Peine/Wolfenbüttel police inspectorate, the city of Wolfenbüttel and the municipalities and joint municipalities in the district attended.

"The shadow economy," reported District Administrator Christiana Steinbrügge, "generates 320 billion euros in revenue every year, which is 10 percent of Germany's total economic output." This was determined by the Tübingen Institute for Applied Economic Research (IAW). This shows how important it is to combat undeclared work. "With the city of Salzgitter," said the district administrator, "we have one of the most experienced local authorities in this area and its specialist team at our side."

Wolfram Skorczyk, Head of the Citizen Services and Public Safety Department of the City of Salzgitter, conveyed the greetings of Salzgitter's Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel, who has high hopes for the success of the project.

The first case numbers indicate that the decision to cooperate between the district and the city was the right one, summarized Salzgitter's Head of Citizen Services and Public Order, Achim Zöfelt. Since June, 21 cases have already been uncovered and fines amounting to around 37,000 euros have been imposed in Wolfenbüttel city center and its districts of Fümmelse, Adersheim and Atzum, as well as in Schladen, Hornburg, Seinstedt, Börßum, Baddeckenstedt and Groß Elbe. While the customs authorities in Braunschweig check the non-self-employed tradespeople, the local authorities are responsible for checking the self-employed for business registration and entry in the trades register.

"This daily work depends on information," says the head of the department. Information about undeclared work comes from customs, the district craftsmen's association, but also from the public. It is also important to have a direct line to the administrations in the municipalities concerned in order to find out where, for example, a new construction area has been created or planned and then to carry out more checks there.

Zöfelt promised: "We want to combat illegal employment in Wolfenbüttel with the same commitment and effectiveness as in Salzgitter."